Full Circle Ending
by SAVE THE NARGLES
Summary: Secret's out, people. Romans in Houston, dragon on the loose, and a four-year girl who speaks Spanish half the time, and hits people with wooden spoons. Well, that's the start. Eli Valdez lives with her parents in Houston, but after getting slapped in the face by fate, she goes on the adventure of a lifetime, keeping it as spunky and cute as possible.
1. Chapter 1

**Hi! I am posting a new story! This is going to be fluffy, at least a first. Reyna might be OOC, but she has to be, because of the circumstances of he story. The second part of the story, which is in Italics, takes place in the past. Except for the Spanish in the beginning. I hope you like the story!**

**-SAVE THE NARGLES**

* * *

He was sitting on the floor in his house. It was dirty, and it was hard to live where they were now, with barely enough to live by, but they were up for the challenge.

Besides, they were tough people.

The rough white carpet was rubbing against his calves, and he was sweating, from the hot summer day you could only get in Texas. His clothes were messy, and he should have been in the shop. Especially on a Saturday afternoon.

But everything he did was for them. And now, that was being at home, than at the shop, where he could be earning next to nothing. But he did not care, he was smiling.

"Come here, Eli. _Ven a papá, cariño_." His eight-month old daughter crawled towards him, and he grabbed her and twirled her in the air, as she giggled. His little Eliane. His phoenix in his life. HIs source of light.

Leo put Eli down gently, and she sat up, then sneezed. A burst of red flames shot up from her head. Her dark eyes turned to the color of hot coals, for a split second. Her fine wavy hair shook around her head, and her Hispanic skin tone was slightly more pink than it was before.

She blinked a couple of times, then giggled again. She just set herself on fire, and her father's eyes , but she did not seem to care.

"You're doing a good job. She's got her daddy's sense of humor, that's for sure." His fiancé strided in from the backyard. Her long hair was braided, and a bandana held back strand of hair back, and she was wearing a tank top and muddy jeans. Her tattoo stood out against her revealed skin, but that was all that was left.

"Mommy!" Leo yelled, and picked up Eli and ran towards her. She still stood tall and proud, but there is little of that previous coldness that was there for all those years. A smile was spread on her face. They left their friends and family behind; it was so much of a burden, to leave their lives and if they stayed. They had mementos, weapons and pictures, things that could not be left behind. But they had not seen a god or demigod since they left, much less monsters and disturbing dreams. They liked it that way.

Reyna took Eli from Leo's arms, and she held her close, and her lover's arm slid on her waist. It was a life of struggle, and they were still young, but it was familiar enough for both of them. The hard work was like the legion, but the atmosphere was more for him. It was perfect.

"How are you, _mi reina_? Do you want me to cook something?" Leo asked, as he kissed her cheek. They walked into their small kitchen, Leo heading towards the stove.

"_Sí_, and for Eli... Can you get a bottle along with some of the baby food?" She held Eli and placed her in the high-chair, and handed her a stuffed rabbit.

"We are not eating this, are we? I don't even want to feed it to Eli." Leo asked as he pulled out some mashed carrots in a glass jar and read the contents. "First ingrediant. Apples."

"Well then, not the carrots." Reyna gave Eli a bottle Leo handed to her and he spreaded some Cherrios on the table. One of the Cherrios bounced into the air. Eli grabbed it and stuffed it in her mouth, dropping the rabbit.

"Good reflexes. Great when she gets her first weapon." Reyna mummured without thinking.

"If she get's a first weapon." Leo reminded her sadly, as he picked up the rabbit and placed it on the table. He cooked their food, and they ate.

"Let's give her a bath." Reyna said, as Eli got her mushed up peas in to her hair. They walked towards the large sink and they placed Eli inside naked, and they filled the sink with warm water, washing the mushed up food off of their daughter.

Just like the blood and slime she had washed off of her hands when she was a warrior, not a mother and a minimum-wage waitress at a diner.

Leo picked up Eli and put her pajammas on, and they walked into the living room and crashed onto the sofa, tired, even though it was barely seven-thirty.

Reyna rested her head on Leo's shoulder, holding Eli, and Leo held her hand. Reyna felt a bump in his pocket, and she slipped her free hand in to find a mecanical dragon.

"Some days more than others, really. Just disappearing off the face of the earth." Leo fiddled with a key on Mini-Festus' back. He twisted it, and the dragon started flying around the room. Eli grabbed sleeply at it whenever it flew towards her.

Reyna watched the glint capture the light, holding the now sleeping Eli. Her mind floated back to the day she found out she was pregnant, the day she left the Legion forever...

* * *

_**About a year ago...**_

_She walked into the woods, early in the morning, before the sun had peaked though the sky. Her stomach was still queasy, and her eyes were rimmed with tears. She did not need a test for her to know she was pregnant. All she wondered was how?_

_She knew that Leo was the father of her child, she was overjoyed, about having a baby. He loved her, and he would love their unborn child. They were both alone, so they were together. But she was still part of the Legion. Her ten-year mark was in three months. But how would she hide it? She was scared. How would she take care of the baby? What would they do? She was supposed to be the smart, responsable one, not pregnant at age twenty-two._

_"Morning, Rey Rey." Leo walked into the woods, holding a blanket and two cups of coffee. Whenever he was at camp, they went on their early morning dates. She stopped slouching and tried not to let her eyes show, or touch her stomach._

_"Don't call me Rey Rey." She reminding him, though she wasn't really trying. She took her cup of coffee from Leo's hand as he unrolled the blanket, and set it down on the grass. She sat down on the blanket next to Leo. Leo leaned back and took small sips from his coffee, watching her and the stars._

_"Something's wrong." Leo said, as if it were normal. _

_"Nothing's wrong." She said, maybe a little too quickly. Leo gave her an odd look._

_"Nothing's wrong. This is...nice." She recovered._

_"Well, if you say so, but I forgot to kiss my queen." Leo leaned in and kissed her on the cheek._

_They continued sitting, Leo talking about his new job in Houston._

_"It's great. I am glad that I went home. Though home is really wherever you are."_

_Reyna frowned. "That's cheesy."_

_'Cheesy's my middle name."_

_"I thought it was Samuel."_

_"It is. I just have two middle names."_

_She rolled her eyes. "Leo Samuel Cheesy Valdez. Classy." _

_"Yeah, I know. He waited for a moment, staring into her eyes. Reyna looked away, her hair falling into her face._

_"I'm not good at some of the perfect-boyfriend stuff, but I know something's wrong. Tell me."_

_Reyna paled. Mother of Jupiter, now she will have to tell him. She took a breath, and she felt the tears streak across her cheeks. Leo grasped her hand, and she leaned on his shoulder._

_"I...we...we are going to have a baby." She deadpanned, dropping her head in shamed._

_Leo's eyes sparked, and his hair caught of fire, then his hair went back to normal._

_"This is...great. This is great, yet terrifying." Leo hugged her and kissed her hard. She started to relax._

_He smiled. She smiled back._

_"We fucked up, big time, you know that. But I don't care." Leo confessed._

_"I'm just worried, about our future. We're barely old enough to drink legally! I will be exiled from the legion. How will we pay for all the needs anyway?"_

_"We'll make it. Don't worry."_

_"Leo."_

_"Yeah?"_

_"We have to leave. Our child would have to go though so much pain, if he or she knows about the gods. Just like we did."_

_Leo nodded. He held her hand for a while._

_"We'll go to Houston. You'll like it there. Get your stuff, then we will leave. For us." Leo placed his hand on her stomach. She smiled sadly, then got up to pack her bags to leave Camp Jupiter._

_Forever._

**_Meanwhile..._**

_"How long has it been since anyone had seen her?" Hazel asked the new Ceurtrion of First, Linnaea._

_"One of the overnight guards thought that he saw her leave the barracks at around 4, with her bags. They thought it was a Lare or a shadow, but now they know it was her." Linnaea told her. Hazel had risen to the position of praetor, after Reyna had to give up her spot, and she tried to rule Rome with an iron fist, even though she was not a leader. She was nobody. She was an outcast. But outcasts do become great._

_"Was anybody with her?" Frank demanded. Sitting in his pajamas, in the Senate room, with all the Ceurtrions yelling like mad men was not his ideal wake-up call. Neither was it for her, thank you very much._

_"Quiet!" Two years as praetor made Frank great at quieting large crowds._

_"So," Hazel butted in after everyone was quiet. "The evidence Ceurtrion Berkley has said was that if Former Praetor Reyna left, then she did it by her own will. She might be far away from here by now. Frank and I will discuss various solutions. Ceurtrion Szeck?"_

_Nathan from Fourth Cohort came up. "Yes, Praetor?"_

_"Do a short search quickly. Don't go into any houses, don't go into the barracks, don't tell anyone what you are doing. But search everywhere that is public, and within camp boundaries. Be back in an hour, to tell me the results. Ceurtrion Berkley and the overnight guards will come with you."_

_"Yes, Praetor." Nathan, Linnaea and the two sleepy guards followed them out of the Senate house._

_"Addison? Please make an offering to the gods, and try to find out anything about her location." Frank said to the new augur, Addison, who was a lot nicer than Octavian._

_"Yes, Preator." Addison left the Senate house after the first group._

_"We will meet again at ten this morning. Meeting adjourned. " Frank ordered, waving his hand._

_Hazel strided over to the chair and slouched down on it, sighing. Frank knelt down and held her hand, smiling. Hazel was worried. It was etched on her face already, and she respected Reyna, for holding off Octavian for all those tough months. She could not believe she was gone._

_"Do you have an idea about what we are going to do?" Frank asked gently._

_"All I'm wondering is why she left. It does not seem like something she would do. I looked up to her. We all do."_

_"I know. But she only would have left if it means for the danger of someone else, not herself."_

_"Still, she puts the Legion before herself."_

_"But she is not praetor. We are the praetors now. She must have known that the Legion was safe in our hands."_

_Hazel sat there for a while, thinking. It worked well, them working together. She was good cop, he was...honest cop. She was the agreeable one, like Jason and Percy were and he was the tougher one, like Reyna was, but still a person who smiles a lot. Not as tough as Reyna, but just enough for him to be sucessful. He was more of a fearful figure than she was._

_"I'll propose an idea." Frank started._

_"Yes?"_

_"We...we should just let her go. Just tell everyone that she wanted to work in the mortal world. She made the decision herself."_

_"Can we send an eagle, just to find her location? It will make me feel better."_

_"No, I don't think so, but we have to tell Camp Half-Blood. And our friends. Jason, Percy, Annabeth...you know."_

_"And Leo..." Hazel trailed. "Leo will be devastated."_

_They knew Leo had some feelings for Reyna. But that was all they knew. If they were in a relationship, they kept it very private._

_Frank nodded. "It's fate that this happened, Hazel. Maybe one day we will cross paths with her...The Fates are not completely done with any of us, because we are alive, and that we care about our friends and family,, and the world as it is today."_

_"That's true. The Fates are never done with the living."_

* * *

**Please review. constructive criticism is allowed, but flames are for Leo, not me. Also follow and favorite if you liked it. I update randomly, because of school, though I am on Thanksgiving break now. See ya!**

**-SAVE THE NARGLES**


	2. Chapter 2

"Daddy?" Eli asked her father as the walked home from the grocery store, bags in both of their hands. Or for her, skipping.

"Yes, _mijo_?" Leo looked down at her four-year old daughter. Her dark eyes joined his.

"Why could we not buy one of those little stuff animals? They were so cute!" Her curly black hair bounced up and down in the double braids that Reyna had put in that morning.

Leo hesitated. He could not tell her that there was not enough to afford the stuff animals. But she is so much like her mother that she would know he's lying.

"We can't afford the stuff animals. We need the money for food, and to keep our house. Maybe for your birthday, _mijo_." Leo answered sadly.

Eli frowned, then she smiled, the smile she inherited from Leo. "_Está bien, papá. _You say to Mommy sometimes how things had been tough since you and her left the Lee-gin."

Leo stared at Eli. She was still smiling, like she was completely innocent. Dang she was smart. "How did you know about the Legion?"

Eli shrugged. "You and Mommy talk privately sometimes about the Lee-gin. Why is the Lee-gin important? _¿Por qué?_"

"The Legion was where we met, sweetie. But we had to leave." Leo answered. Eli raised her eyebrows and opened her mouth" But you wanna hear a joke?"

"_¡Sí! ¡Sí! _" Eli started jumping up and down. Things she inherited form Leo, sense of humor, smile, energy (maybe it was the normal amount for a four-year old, he did not know.)

"Ok, let me think..." Leo started stroking his imaginary goatee, his hands still holding the bags. "Oh, I've got it. Listen closely, _princesa_."

Eli nodded eagerly, then put her finger to her mouth.

Leo dropped his hand down. "SO, why does a sea-"

"OH! OH! I know the answer! I know it! I know it! Pleeeeease let me answer! _¡Por favor!_" Eli gave him her puppy dog eyes, sticking her lower lip out slightly, and making little whimpering noises.

"You know, I have to finish the question first before you can answer, _mijo_."

"Fine." Eli made a pouty face, and glared at him. One of the things she inherited from Reyna. But the pout ruined the glare.

"Ok, why does a seagull fly over the sea?" He asked. "Now, I will call on a lucky audience member to answer the question."

Eli started jumping up and down, raising her hand and yelling, "Pick me!"

"I choose that lovely little lady right there. With those pretty braids. French braids, right? What's the answer?"

"Well, technically speaking," Another thing she inherited from Reyna, her professionally. "If a seagull flew over a bay, then it's a bagel, and there already is a food called a bagel, so it's a seagull."

"That is correct, Miss Eli-V! Give me five." He held out his hand, and Eli slapped it. They crossed the street, Leo holding onto Eli's hand.

"Daddy! Look at those birds! By the church!" Eli pointed to the rickety church that was down the street from where they were.

Leo squinted. He saw three large birds on the roof of the abandoned church. People were aweing at the birds and the sunlight glistened on their white feathers.

White and brown feathers.

Leo's eyes widened in shock. They were eagles. Roman eagles.

After nearly five years, they had found them.

"Eli, we need to go home now!" Leo tugged on her hand, and Eli's eyes snapped away from the eagles.

"Are the eagles bad?" Eli stared at Leo, who in turn had turned very pale.

"No, on most cases, but three at one time means trouble. It means the Legion knows we are here. Then we're _frijoles refritos_." Leo summarized.

"_Frijoles refritos?_"

"We need to get home and tell Mommy about the eagles, then we will explain to you why the eagles are dangerous, and about the Legion."

"Ok" Eli could see that Daddy was scared. But she did not know why. But eagles were bad, if they were going to become _frijoles refritos _if they found her, Mommy and Daddy.

They ran thought the endless ally, until they reached the street where they lived on. They walked quickly down the street to where their shabby house was.

Leo opened the back door for Eli and they ran inside and placed the food on the counter. Reyna walked in, and Leo grabbed her hand.

"Eli spotted three eagles by the old church on our way home." Leo told Reyna.

"What? They have not done a search in this area for many years! Do they know we're here?" Reyna asked as they walked to their room, closing all the curtains.

"Not sure. I don't think any of the eagles saw us." Leo grabbed Eli, and placed her on his and Reyna's bed and locked the door. The room had a queen sized bed, a drawer and a vanity, and a small bathroom linking onto the bedroom.

"It might be possible that the praetors now might have sent a search. Hazel and Frank did not when we first left, and it's been more than four years since they took charge. They are not praetors anymore."

"I know, but it's time..."

"No, not yet Eli's too young."

"I'm old enough. I'm four! You and Daddy talk about the Lee-gin a lot and Daddy said we would become _frijoles refritos_ if the eagles saw us!" Eli yelled, and she crossed her arms. She started crying into the pillow.

"You told her that we would become refried beans if the eagles saw you?" Reyna glared at Leo.

"Um...maybe."

"Eli, we will not become _frijoles refritos_." Reyna explained to the crying Eli while Leo was rubbing the back of his head from the slap. "Daddy just means that we might be in a little bit of trouble. _¿Lo entiendes?_"

Eli stared at her mommy, wiping the tears from her cheeks. She knew that the Legion was dangerous, a lot more dangerous than what Mommy had said. She knew that Mommy and daddy might die if the Legion caught them. And she would be alone. Mommy and Daddy were both alone for a lot of their life. She did not want to be alone, with no one to talk to or tell her feelings to or to play with when her friends were mean to her.

"_Lo __entiendo, mamá_." Eli told her. "But I want to know what the Lee-gin is."

Reyna looked at her daughter. She was a spitting image of herself. And Leo. She was too young. At this age she was at Circe's island, trying to brush hair. She did not want her daughter to suffer from her knowledge.

"I know it's hard, but it's time she knows." Leo murmured to her in Latin.

"Ok..." Reyna calmed herself. "You know those stories that we told you. About the Greek and Roman gods and the Battle of the Camps and the Quest of the Argo II."

"_Sí._"

Leo butted in. "They are real, _mijo_."

"Really?" Eli's eyes widened. She loved those stories.

"Yes, _querida_." Reyna assured her. "But are lives were in danger all the time, and those tales were something we wanted you to know."

"You were the praetor, _mamá_?" Eli asked. She loved the adventure, but they were the characters...they nearly died many times.

"Yes, and your father was one of the seven on the quest for the Argo II. The builder of the ship."

Eli stared at her parents in surprise.

"The Lee-gin was the camp for the Romans, right? And you were Roman, Mommy. Why did you leave with Daddy then, when you said it was safe?"

Reyna stared at the ground, Leo wrapped her in a hug, and Eli crawled across the bed, and wriggled herself into her mother's arms.

"When we found out that I was going to have a baby," Reyna whispered, so they could barely hear her voice. "We were _m__uy feliz_. But we were very scared. I could not hide the fact that you were in my belly for very long, enough to get my tenth stripe on my tattoo and be able to live in New Rome, and I knew that." A tear slipped down her cheek.

"Daddy would not be allowed to take care of you, because he was not Roman. You would go and fight in the Legion and get a tattoo like mine, and go and kill monsters for ten years. It was dishonorable that I was going to have a baby while I was still in the Legion, and if I fought, then you might of gotten hurt, when you were in my belly, and you would of never been here today."

"We did not want you to know about the gods." Leo told his daughter. "We had been hurt so much because of the gods, that we did not want you to get hurt. We wanted you to go and make friends, not to fight scaly monsters. That ment that we had to leave our friends."

Eli snuggled closer to her mother, and she wrapped her arms around Reyna's neck. Reyna held her close and Leo held them. Eli's tears started falling to the ground again.

"Can you get Conejito for me?" Eli asked, breaking the silence. Leo got up silently and he walked out the door to Eli's room, and brought back her stuffed rabbit, Conejito.

He was a ragged hare, with part of his ear burnt off. Pieces of cloth were randomly glued on in different places. A purple ribbon tied around his neck, a spot of denim on his right knee, flowered ears, a red heart. A zipper was placed in the back, where some of the stuffing was removed and a couple of pictures were there and a bottle of glue. Eli unzipped the zipper and took out a photo.

The photo was of Leo and Reyna at the hospital, and a baby Eli was in Reyna's arms. They were both grinning and Baby Eli was sleeping. It always made Eli happy, as it did with her parents.

"Everything will be alright. Just like you had always said." Eli pointed out.

"You're right, everything will be alright, _mijo_." Leo got up and unlocked the door. The conversation was over.

* * *

Eli snuggled into her small bed, in her bedroom. It was white, but the room was covered in pictures, dried flowers, food labels, wall stickers, pages from magazines, practically anything that struck her fancy was put up on the wall.

Her bed was made up of a fluffy blanket, a quilt, two fluffy pillows, and Conjito. A small chest full of toys was in the corner, along with a drawer, and a vanity.

Eli inched closer towards the wall, the house making eery noises, as it always did at night. But now, it was much more different.

Eli knew her parents were brave. They lived on the tough side of town, and barely anyone moved here, especially when there was a child with them. They were up for a challenge.

But she knew that the monsters might come after them, that they would try to kill them and might eat them with _mole _sauce. They were more dangerous than the teenagers smoking behind the grocery store.

And the Lee-gin fighters. They could be punished and Daddy would not live with her and Mommy, and she would get a tattoo and have to kill monsters. She did not want a tattoo and fight monsters. She wanted to stay in Houston with Mommy and Daddy.

Another creak filled the air. Eli placed a pillow over her head, then she heard...footsteps.

Eli sat up, and she heard mumbling. What if it was a monster. A Roman who snuck though the doggy door?

She grabbed Conjito and hopped down from the bed. If it was a monster or someone in armor, she would go and tell Mommy and Daddy. If it was a thief, then she would take care of him. Or her, for that matter.

She snuck into the kitchen from the hallway, and peered though the doorway. A teenager, a guy, she thought, was stumbling across the carpet, like a drunken sailor. He rubbed his hair, and crashed onto the sofa, fast asleep.

Hm, this will be easy. Eli tip-toed into the kitchen and used a step stool to get to the top of the counter and took the cylinder with all the utensils to make the food. She looked between the metal potato masher and a wooden spoon, then decided on the spoon, because the man was not stealing anything. She pushed the cylinder back and placed stool back in its spot. She ran back into the living room and placed Conjito on the table.

"Let's see what happens when we hit the man with _una cuchara de madera_, Conjito." She whispered to the rabbit. Then she stood back, and with all of her might, she hit the man with the spoon.

A loud _'SLAP'_ sounded and the man jumped up from the couch, squawking like a chicken. Eli kept hitting the man, who was standing up, and cursing in English, Latin, Greek and what Eli thought was Italian. Then a sword appeared out of no where.

Eli froze, then she dropped the spoon and started running. Her parents stood in the doorway of the kitchen, a knife in Mommy's hand, and Daddy had a hammer. Eli hid under the table. The light flickered on in the living room

There was a minute of silence, then Eli crawled out from under the table. She ran to the living room.

The man was rubbing the back of his head, trying to get up. Reyna and Leo were standing next to eack other. Reyna's knife was sheathed and Eli hid behind Leo, who was holding his knife loosely at his side.

The intruder stood up then looked at them, and his eyes widened.

"Leo, Reyna? I have not seen either of you in a while." The teenager was wearing mostly black, and had black messy hair. His sword was still in his hand. He looked like he was made of also noticed that he seemed...odd. She wanted to go and hide back under the table again. She felt like when she saw a dead cat in the backyard. Frightened with the sight of its lifeless body. She felt like that.

"Five years, to be exact." Reyna said stiffly. Her back straightened, and her face turned into a blank wall. She walked towards the guy with confidence. Eli remebered her acting like this once, when a police officer came to ask about a theft in the area. Daddy had said that she was like that before they fell in love. She used to scare him. She used to scare everybody. And she did scare the police officer.

"Everybody's been wondering where you went. You guys are lucky, not being found yet. Or killed." He continued, a hand running into his hair. His pale skin made him look like a _vampiro._

"Can you just leave, Nico? You're depriving all of us of our beauty sleep. And I am standing here in my boxers." Leo asked. Eli saw that he was wearing his red and blue striped undies.

"Maybe, but I wanna hear what had happened while you were here in Houston. And why Igot smacked with a wooden spoon." Nico picked up the wooden spoon and set his sword on the coffee table.

"That was me, _Señor Huesos de Pollo_." Eli crawled out from behind and grabbed her rabbit, which was still on the table. "And Conjito."

Nico stared at the little girl, who was glaring at him, while Leo was snickering. Reyna was smiling too.

"What does Senor Huesos...what did you just call me?" Nico inquired while Eli was fixing the ribbon on Conjito.

"Mr. Chicken Bones, _Señor_." Eli answered, while smiling sweetly at Nico.

Nico stared at her, then at Leo and Reyna, who were both laughing. "What's your name?"

"Eliane. But everybody calls me Eli." She piped up. "You aren't as scary as I thought you were, Mr. Chicken Bones."

"That's good. But maybe you, Leo and Reyna want to talk?" He looked at Leo and Reyna hopefully.

Reyna glared at him. "Fine. Eli, will you get the _galletas_?"

"_Sí, mamá_." Eli nodded, then went to go and get the package of cookies.

"Wait, _mamá_?" Nico asked, astounded, as Leo followed Eli into the kitchen.

"Yes. Haven't you figured it out yet?" Reyna asked, slightly annoyed that he did not realize that Eli was Reyna II.

"Never mind. We can talk." Nico sat down on a chair nearby as Eli brought out some Oreos. He smiled at the girl, and she smiled back. Maybe the Legion won't find them.


	3. Chapter 3

**Hello, hello, hello, and I HAVE DONE IT! I HAVE A NEW CHAPPIE! Thank you to my friend, thisiscorinth, who helped me with some of my ideas, mostly in planning some crazy ideas for the next chapter. I also have made the greatest amount of OCs EVER! Six in total for the story so far (Seven if you add Conjito.), four introduced in this chapter. Wow. **

**-SAVE THE NARGLES**

* * *

Nico sat down on the chair, facing the couch. Leo and Reyna sat next to each other, Reyna as stiff a board, and Leo playing with his fingers. Nico knew that they had changed, but they were still those same people on the inside, the rock-hard praetor, and the goofy mechanic. And Eli.

Eli after she had brought the cookies out, had cuddled between the two of them, under a wool blanket, with her arms wrapped around her rabbit. Their daughter.

Daughter. It was unexpected. It was like two trains crashing into each other. But Eli was unique. Nico felt something stir. Was he getting soft for this little girl that he barely knew?

Well, who knew? Everything was crashing down anyway. Secret's out, Roman warriors in Houston, a dragon on the loose, and a four-year girl who speaks Spanish half the time, and hits people with wooden spoons. And he thought she was as innocent as any demigod could be. But even if only her parents were demigods, her blood was still half god, just a mixture of Hephaestus and Bellona.

Nico pulled apart the Oreo and scraped the inside of it out, wiping it on a napkin, then took a small bite of the cookie.

"So, what's going on? We can only assume what has been going on in the world of the gods." Reyna questioned as took a small sip of her coffee.

Nico poured some cream into his coffee, and stirred it. "Many things have happened. There are three legionnaires here for a quest. They are hunting a dragon, the Ismenian dragon. It was killed many times over the years, but now it has a home somewhere in Houston, and there has been problems with the water transportation here."

"I heard about the water main breaks." Leo answered. "It was near here, and its been on the news, with the other depressing shit."

"When have you been watching the news?" Reyna asked.

"I don't know. I just know that kind of stuff. Maybe you're rubbing off on me." He held his chin up a little bit, grinning like a mad man. Reyna smiled a little, and a spark filled her eyes.

"Well, it looks like Leo rubbed off on you, Reyna Valdez." Nico popped the rest of the cookie in his mouth.

"I can still beat the living daylights out of you, Di Angelo, even if I was pregnant once and haven't done eagle training in five years." She snapped at him, her some-what decent mood flying out the door. Leo frowned, like he was sad that she wasn't smiling, but then grinned, like he was glad it wasn't him taking the full blast. Of course he was.

"Well, the quest is in Houston for at least a week, looking for the dragon. Apparently, it used to guard the Castalian Spring near Delphi, and it was a son of Ares, or Mars. It was killed by Cadmus, who founded Thebes, but he was punished, and he and his wife eventually were turned into serpents."

"The dragon was a serpent, if I am right, and is cursed. Whoever kills it will be cursed by Mars." Reyna brought up, her brow creasing.

"Yes, but they are going to offer the spoils of war to Mars when they return, one of the greatest spoils of all time. The teeth." Nico grabbed another cookie, and split it apart again.

"The teeth like, if you plant them, they turn into blood thirsty warriors, right? Grow your own army, just plant magical teeth!" Leo exclaimed. He started for the sugar bowl for his coffee, but Reyna swatted his hand away.

"Yes," Nico cut off, "which makes it a great spoil of war. A perfect offering. Glory to whoever kill it, making Mars happy, and Houston will be safe, though the monster minds its own business unless it gets attacked." Nico summarized. All of a sudden a shiver went down his back. He knew it was time to go.

"Thank you for the food, I need to go." He stood up abruptly, and shook their hands.

"Please don't tell." Leo blurted out. "For Eli-V." Eli, who's curly hair was falling in her face, who's small skinny frame clutched Conjito like it was her lifeline.

Nico looked at the little girl. She was not completely innocent, but she deserved to live a normal life. But she still was a half-blood, with the blood of two gods. He knew she would have a great fate ahead of her.

He leaned down and kissed Eli on her forehead. Yep, he was going soft. Maybe it was Hazel, or Percy, or even being around people period. Or maybe he was just being tired of the moody, mysterious Son of Hades. Everybody would be glad to see the happy couple, and Eli would be adored. But that would have to wait.

"I will." Nico smiled, an unnatural closed lip smirk. But his eyes could light up the sky.

Nico walked out of the room and shadow-traveled out. He did not know where he was going. Just away so he could get his thoughts together.

* * *

Eli knew that Nico was a good person at heart. Though she tried tostay awake, she still was very dopey when the conversation happened. Red planets, snakes and teeth; it didn't make any sense to her, but she knew her parents were very, very worried. But life still went on.

Her mother and father had left her with a baby sitter for the day, because it was a Sunday, and both of them had to go to work. They only had Saturdays off, and Saturday became her favorite day of the week. She went to daycare during the week, but she stayed with Angela on Sundays.

Angela was an twenty year old college student who lived in the neighborhood. She had long blond-brown hair, hazel eyes and pale skin, which was odd where Eli lived. But she was a good friend, even if Eli didn't trust her as much as her parents or Conjito.

"You're a smart kid. You have just as much smarts and common sense as a third-grader. But you are very serious." Angela told her, handing over the purple crayon.

"I know. Mommy is like that. _Demasiado viejo para su edad_, as Daddy says." Eli answered when they were drawing pictures.

"Do you have any other family members? Besides your parents." Angela asks as Eli finished her picture of Mommy, which was a oval with long hair.

"Daddy said his Mommy died when he was eight, and Mommy has a sister who lives in Seattle, but they hadn't seen each other in seven years. Her name is Hylla. They might of named me Hylla, but it would of made Mommy sad." Angela handed her a piece of tape, and Eli taped it on the front of the fridge.

"Oh, well, do they have any friends?"

Eli stopped to think. She could not tell her about Mommy and Daddy's friends. That would be bad. Maybe she should just tell her about Nico. "Not really. They had friends when they were young, but I've only met Nico." She answered truthfully.

"Who's Nico?" Angela asked, as she opened the fridge to get Eli a banana.

"He was this man, and he was creepy at first and dressed in black, but he was really nice." Eli told Angela as she ate the cut-up banana.

"Well, that's good." Angela picked up the bowl and she placed it in the sink. "Do you want me to tell you a story?"

"Yes! _¡Sí! ¡Sí!_" Eli ran and sat on the couch and grabbed Conjito, who was drawing with them. she sat down, crushing the crayons, and started bouncing up and down, smashing the crayons even more. She loved stories, maybe the stories Angela would tell her would be good, just like Mommy and Daddy's.

Angela placed the remainder of the crayons on the table, and started her story. "Ok, once upon a time..."

"That sounds boring." Eli told her. Angela stared at her in shock. Girls her age usually loved that.

"Stories start with that a lot." Angela recovered. "Now, once upon a time, there was a pretty maiden." Angela held up a picture of a girl in a pretty gown with blond hair and blue eyes.

"The pretty maiden lived with her rich father, and had everything a girl could have, except a mother. Her mother died a long time ago."

"Did she die of a cold, or was she stabbed?" Eli leaned back against a pillow on the couch and yawned while adjusting a bonnet that was on Conjito's head.

"A cold. But the father thought that the girl needed a real mother, and sisters, so he got married to a widow who had two daughters." Angela stared in shock at the girl. How could a four-year old girl ask those questions?

"But the daddy dies of a cold too. And the mother and sisters are _matones_. And the maiden gets married to a prince and lived happy ever after." Eli finishes fixing Conjito's hat. She was disappointed that the story wasn't about honor and glory, or about adventure.

"You don't like those kind of stories, do you?" Angela asks as Eli jumped off the couch and ran to grab a coloring book.

"Mommy says that girls who wave their _pañuelos_ and get married to princes are not real. I want to be a real girl." Eli puffed out her chest and held her fists in front of her, her curls bouncing up and down, held back in a purple ribbon. She wore a simple white tank top and shorts. Angela noticed before that she wasn't all dolled up, like most of the little girls she took care of. Angela knew this girl was different.

Suddenly the back door opened, and Reyna walked in, in a simple skirt and blouse. Her hair was up in bun, and her apron was hanging loosely off of her slim body. Her faced was lined, and her face looked stiff, like she was frightened of something,

"_¡Mami!_" Eli ran to her and Reyna picked her up on que, smiling, a closed-lip smile, but with glittering eyes filled with approval. Angela always thought her smile was pretty. But today her eyes were replaced with worry.

"_Gracias_ ,for taking care of her again." Reyna handed Angela fifty dollars, while placing Eli down. Angela knew that she should ask for more, but the family was lower class, and Angela knew they were both as sharp as pins, but life was hard on them, neither of them went to college, and they had a young daughter.

"No problem. Do you need to work late tomorrow? I can pick her up tomorrow." Angela asked, just to help Reyna a little bit. She knew something was wrong, but to ask was disrespectful. Probably in Reyna's mind.

"_Sí_, can you pick her up from daycare, tomorrow? I'll only be late for an hour or two." Reyna shook Angela's hand, she was not as touchy-touchy as some other people.

"That'll be great! Right, Eli?" Eli nodded, then hugged Angela's waist, then waved good-bye when Angela walked out the door.

* * *

Leo was cooking dinner when Eli heard the hissing noise. She was sitting at the table, looking at Daddy's drawings for work, for a kind of screw. It looked neat. He was just cooking beef for dinner, so she thought the hissing was the sound of the skillet. He still was humming a random tune, not looking worried at all. But when he took the skillet off the stove she heard it again. Still soft, but noticable for her keen hearing. She knew Daddy had heard it too. He frowned slightly, but he went on with cooking dinner.

The family ate dinner, which consisted of beef tacos and salad, when the hissing noise sounded again, slightly louder. Reyna stood up and whispered something into Leo's ear. He nodded, then she left. He looked upset, at least to Eli.

"Where did Mommy go?" Eli asked as she finished her salad. She held on to Conjito, even though he was not allowed at the dinner table.

"Mommy went to go and se what the hissing sound was. She'll be back soon." Leo told Eli. He smiled at her, and she smiled back.

Reyna came back and sat down. "I didn't see anything." Then she stiffened.

Leo went rigid too, and Eli felt something stirring, a ringing in her ears, like she knew something bad was going to happen.

Reyna grabbed Eli and they ducked under the table, and Eli saw a flash of gold and silver streak above them, making plaster rain on them.

"_Un monstruo_." She whispered in fear, and she knew that the stories were real.

Eli was thrown over Reyna shoulder, and they ran down the hall, Eli saw the monster clearly for a second.

The dragon was more like a snake. It had a long skinny body, covered in gold and silver scales, and a bronze belly. His head was square-like, and his eyes were a shimmery gold, with black slits. But the worst part was his teeth. Eli saw sharp, hooked teeth, many of them, too many for her to count. And on its back, were shredded wings.

Eli knew one thing. It was fast.

The serpent rocketed towards them, and Reyna ducked, and the serpent crashed into the wall at the end of the hallway. Leo yelled something to Reyna in Latin, and followed the monster. Reyna put Eli down.

"Eli, listen to me. We need you to get out of here." Mommy held her hands. Eli knew she was scared. She was scared too.

"Go into our room, and open the bottom drawer of our dresser. There is a small brown backpack. Get that. Then go outside away from the house, though the window on the floor. Stay there until you see one of us, or if Angela or Nico comes, go with them. _¿De acuerdo?_" Mommy ordered, in an urgent tone of voice.

"Mommy, is the monster is going to kill you and _papá_?" Eli stared at Reyna, tears in her eyes, and Reyna knew that leaving her was going to hurt more than any wound.

"I'm not sure. We will try to kill the monster. But we can't let the monster get you. Go. _Te amo_, Eli, remember that." Reyna kissed Eli's head, and held her, the best thing that ever happened to Reyna. She let go of her, and pulled out her knife, and ran to help Leo.

Eli watched her until she was gone, then ran into the bedroom, and hauled open the drawer, and grabbed the small bag. Then she ran towards the little window, which was under the bed, and was covered in plaster.

Eli tried moving some of the plaster chunks, but the pieces were too big. They blocked the window, and the glass was caked in dust, burrowing into the cracks. She was trapped.

She crawled back from under the bed, and sprinted to the kitchen, jumping to grab the wooden spoon. She bolted to the living room and grasped Conjito, who was lying limply on the ground behind the tipped over table, throwing the backpack over her shoulder. THe wall were riddled with holes and small bits of furniture and insolation were on fire. There was hissing coming from down the hall, and she saw Mommy run from the room, ducking to avoid the snake. Reyna attacked the snake with her knife, aiming for its eyes and mouth. The snake hissed at her, and tried to snap at her. Eli ran towards the back door, but she saw Reyna swoop away from the snake, and land hard on the ground. But she did not get up.

But now the snake was heading towards her.

Eli slide to the right, and the serpent crashed into the wall behind her , leaving a large hole where the back door used to be. It's head shot up and faced Eli, its mouth open wide. Eli quickly stumbled up, and locked her eyes with the serpent.

_"Legacy...Greek...Roman...powerful..."_ The snake mumbled, taking its sweet time to slither up to Eli, spreading its shredded wings, showing off its hooked teeth. She shivered, her bare feet stumbling backwards, away from the snake, until her back was against the wall. Her spoon was gripped tightly in her hands. She held it up towards her face.

_"Destroy!" _The snake lunged at her, and she ducked, waving her spoon above her head, striking the deadly cooking utensil in the monster's eye.

The snake wreathed, and slid away from her blindly, and Eli ran and hid under a small table nearby, with her spoon covered in a shiny, yellow liquid. The house shook, and Eli could hear the walls slowly crumbling, and she heard the bricks banging on the table, the clashes of a fight still going on. But she stayed still. She heard the honk of an ambulance, and people. But nobody came. The sirens slowly faded away as the minutes ticked by, but she could still see hints of the flashing lights, until they faded into the night.

Eli breathed in. Her teeth started to chatter, her clothing was more approprite for the sweltering Houston summers, not for the night. The air turned cold, and her fingers and toes went numb.

Eli wrapped her arms around Conjito and sniffled. She has cried all of her tears out already. Where are they?

Eli held out her numb hands and stared at them, Conjito in the crook of her arm, like a baby. She wanted to do her magic trick. Slowly, her fingers grew warm, and they were covered in red flickering strands, making her hands warm, heating her hands for three wonderful seconds. She sighed, and the red flames soon faded away, leaving her at the mercy of the night-time air again.

"...the dragon was around here somewhere..." A voice murmured; it sounded like a guy's voice. Eli's head shot up. She shakily wiped her cheeks, though there were no tears. Maybe she could get help.

"Really, you think so?" A girl sniped at the guy. Eli crawled out of her hiding spot carefully, so she would stay out of sight.

"No, I shot it over here. Or was it over there?" She peeked over the fallen table, ready to dash if whoever-it-was saw her. saw three people in sparkling armor with humongous swords were staring at the what remained of the house, a few yards away, too far away to see her.

"Seriously, Flynn?" The girl placed her hands on her hips. The two were glaring at each other, while the third person just watched.

"Hey! It's not my fault that the monster dust blocked our vision, _Lucina_!" Flynn yelled at her.

"It's LUCY!" Lucina screamed, pushing the guy back.

"Well, the praetors won't be happy if we don't find the dragon carcass, or the teeth." The third person murmured humbly. Praetors? They had to be lee-gin-aires. Eli breathed in. Nico was right. If they found her, she would have to leave Houston. And Mommy and Daddy. But maybe...maybe they were still in the house.

"Shut it, Milo! I'm supposed to lead the quest!" Lucy snapped at him.

"Stop sniping at Milo, Lucina! It's your fault that we didn't get here in time to save the mortals that lived here! You were being too stubborn!"

"No! You're the stubborn one, Flynn!" The soldiers started pushing each other around.

"The praetors should have never paired the centurions of First and Fifth together." Milo said to himself, shaking his head.

Without thinking, Eli crawled out fully while the group bickered. Plus if they were never here in the first place, Mommy and Daddy would not be missing.

Eli sighed, and faced the wreckage of what remained of her home. Parts of the roof had collapsed, and there was plaster and metal scales strewn about the floor. There were gaping holes in what was left of the walls, and Eli felt her courage dwindling. And in the bedroom, she saw the dragon,. But...it was dead. The empty armor was stretched along the bed, with scales in heaps on the floor, and the only part left of its body were the teeth, placed in a neat pile where the mouth would have been.

She hopped though the smashed wall and stared at the dragon. Quickly, she grabbed half of the pile of teeth and unzipped Conjito and placed the teeth inside. She also grabbed a couple of the scales, and stuffed them in her shorts pocket. She scurried away with Conjito, and now that she realized this, her brown backpack.

She ran past the three in full sight, though only Milo noticed. "Hey, did anyone just see a little girl run right past us- Lucy, _put the knife down_!"

Eli ran out though the hole where the back door was and into the brown dirt yard, where the shed door was open. Eli ran inside, where there were two backpacks and a duffel bag were sitting on the ground, along with a bow and arrows.

She sat down, her limbs shaking with exhaustion, her fingers and bare feet stinging. She unzipped the backpack and unpacked it slowly. Two cold metal bottles, a couple dried fruit bars, a plastic bag of Oreos and the special lemon bars that Mommy had for healing cuts. A silver wallet that held forty bucks came out next. Finally a large sweater and a hat. Eli quickly put on the sweater, along with the hat. But the hat would not go on her head.

Eli looked at the hat strangely, but took it off and dumped the contents out of it. A folded up piece of paper, a MP3 player and a pair of socks fell out.

She smiled and placed everything back in the bag, except Conjito, the hat, the sweater, and the socks.

"I still blame you." Lucy's voice proclaimed. Eli heard the footsteps of the lee-gin-aires fall into place, heading closer. Eli needed to hide. Her eyes fell on the duffel bag. If she emptied it, it would fit her and her bag inside.

Eli zipped it open, and dumped most of the person's clothes in a large pot nearby, but kept some of the food and personal items inside. She stuffed her bag inside, and curled up into a ball and grabbed Conjito and pulled the flap over her body right when they walked in.

"Ok," Lucy started, slowly, like she was thinking. "we grab an over-night bus to Phoenix, then we will be in San Fransisco by tomorrow afternoon, then Camp Jupiter, now that we have the armor and scales all packed up in the box that Cy made us. You know, the Daughter of Trivia."

"Best idea you've had the whole quest. And I know who Cy is, by the way." Flynn answered, but Lucy brushed it off, and Eli heard her pick up one of the backpacks, and leave the shed. Flynn sniffed, then grabbed the other backpack and the bow, and the arrows, rattling in their sheth, and ran after her. Eli could not hear Milo fo a while, then he sighed and zipped up the duffel bag and hoisted it over his shoulder. Eli slid to the right, but it worked. But now she was heading to the Lee-gin.

_Well then, Lee-gin, here I come. _And far away, Bellona smiled and knew that her grandaughter was worthy of her heretige.

* * *

**Sweet, this chapter is about 4,000 words long.** **Did I take too much time on this...nah. Oh, Please fav, follow and review, even if you have already done all three. See ya! And Happy Holidays! Chanukah starts on the eighth, I think.**

**-SAVE THE NARGLES**


	4. Chapter 4

**Hey, back with Chapter Four! With more OCs, and awesomeness. RAISE YOUR HAND FOR AWESOMENESS! Thanks to thisiscorinth for being my guinea pig, for some of my story ideas. Enjoy!**

**-SAVE THE NARGLES**

* * *

Eli decided on the second bus that she was never hiding in a duffel bag again. It was hot, now that it was daytime in Southwest U.S.A, and it was stuffy, and uncomfortable. It gave her too much time to think about her parents. What if they were still there, and they thought she was dead? But she had nowhere to go, and now that she was in this stupid duffel bag, at least she might get some _dulces_ or something. She cuddled closer to Conjito and tightened her grasp around her wooden spoon.

But, she got to hear a lot of the gossip, and she found out that Lucy and Flynn are probably in love, or they just really, really hate each other.

"Ug, this bus ride is taking forever!" She heard Flynn groan from the seat above.

"It'll be worth it once we get back with the teeth." Lucy assured at she was typing something down on a laptop somewhere to the left of Flynn, right above her, the hum of clicking keys lulling Eli.

"What are you writing about?" Milo asked, as he closed what sounded like a book.

"None of your beeswax, I suppose." She snapped as her laptop closed suddenly.

"You must be writing about your life before the Legion, or something like Fifty Shades of Grey if you're this touchy." Flynn noted.

Lucy stayed silent, for once, and Eli assumed that Flynn was right, even if she didn't know what Fifty Shades of Grey was.

"Yes, I'm writing about this one time, when I went to the Kris Kringle market near Christmas with my dad, when I was nine. Just about all the wonder I felt." Lucy sighed. Eli relaxed a bit. She wasn't the only one who felt this way.

"You know we aren't from Chicago." Flynn said imprudently.

"Shut it! I've been in the Legion for six years! Can't you just let me walk down memory lane for a hour or so?" Lucy snapped. "Hm, can you do that?"

"Leave her be, Flynn." Milo murmured. Eli felt him move the bag and unzip it. She placed a book on her stomach and he grasped it and placed the other one back.

"It's her Discordia kicking in." Flynn whispered, and Eli could hear Lucy growl nasty phrases in Latin about him.

"It's your Virtus and Mars kicking in too." Milo retorted. Eli smiled, and she hears Flynn join Lucy in cursing. She smiles a little, because it reminds her of how her parents were. Sometimes they were sweet on each other, but sometime they bickered a lot, like Flynn and Lucy. But it only made her cringe even more.

"I heard from that Fourth Cohort that the Praetors are thinking of starting the search up for Former Praetor Reyna again." Lucy injected. "It's been what, five years since she disappeared?" Eli listened closely. She understood that her mother was once a praetor, but she didn't know much of anything else.

"Yeah, I just joined the Legion then, she was freaky! I was only nine! She wasn't a Praetor anymore, but she still was stiffer than a board with most people, tougher than drakon hide. I could understand why she was able to lead Rome single-handedly, during the Giant War. And she fought next to Former Praetor Jason Grace in the Titan War" Flynn exclaimed excitedly. So she was scary, and fought in the Titan War and lead in the Giant War. She suspected that from the stories already.

"Yeah, but she left willingly, apparently, it was decided by Former Praetors Frank and Hazel and the Senate that there would not be a search." Lucy argued.

"Well, When Frank and Hazel lead Camp Jupiter, it was probably one of the most peaceful times of Rome in the past century, right?" Milo reasoned. Eli knew Frank and Hazel from the stories.

"Yeah, so?" Flynn asked, in a slightly accusing tone.

"Reyna knew that Rome would be fine, so when she left, the reason unknown, she wasn't worried. I bet she was still willing to give her life up for Rome, at least when it was in danger, but the Legion isn't in danger. She decided to put other needs first. " Milo said truthfully, though Lucy and Flynn went back to arguing.

"For _familia_." Eli said to Conjito, so only they would hear, smiling at what Milo said. She knew that Milo was her favorite so far. She liked him a lot. But she really missed her parents.

Think of_ dulces. _Eli told herself. _Habas de jalea y chocolate. _Yummy.

She drifted off to sleep, dreaming of eating jellybeans with Mommy, because she never let Daddy eat them.

* * *

They day they came back from Houston just happened to be the worst day of Milo's life. The day all of his uselessness was celebrated.

Of course, Flynn and Lucy got most of the glory, they wanted to bathe in it. They were both good people, on the inside, just that they were the popular legionaries. Lucy, a daughter of Discordia, causing her to erupt in anger at the worst of times, but her brutal randomness made her smart, clever, and one of the best warriors on the battlefield. And Flynn was a legacy of Mars, which always made him popular, and Virtus, who as the goddess of chivalry, made him brave, but he did have his short circuits too. But Milo secretly knew that Lucy and Flynn respected each other greatly. Not him, though.

He didn't care much. He was not a people person, and he did know that Lucy and Flynn understood him. He was just a lonely son of Mnemosyne or Moneta, to be Roman. But his mother was called by her Greek name because Juno was often called Juno Moneta. Ever since the Greeks and Romans united, the names were a blur.

Milo felt alone a lot, he was the goddess' only demigod child living today, though she was the mother of the nine Muses. He was a skinny fourteen year old kid who was always cringing at everything. People underestimated him.

But, he could see memories.

When he looked into someone's eyes, he gets a glimpse of their memories, based on how they were feeling. A picnic on a beach, a drunk parent coming home, pain exploding from a wound.

Milo barely remembers his own past, and only pays enough attention in life to get by. He spends his day wallowing himself in happy memories. A kiss, sparks on your skin, a fire burning deep inside, running though dewy grass in your bare feet, wind wrestling your hair into knots. The memories he never had.

He walked down the abandoned Via Principala, abandoned except for a few late Lares heading the other way, late for the celebration. Milo knew that today that no one will notice that he wasn't there. Shaggy brown hair, pale skin, thick glasses, it already made him labeled a loner. But his eyes scared everybody. They were every color possible, but they were fractured, like stained glass. Broken.

He continued walking until he got to Fifth Cohort, and stepped inside, flicking the light on and placed his duffel bag on the bed in the secluded corner where his bed was.

Milo placed the duffel bag on the purple covers, and placed the book he was holding back on the makeshift bookcase, resting near the end on a slight tilt. Books were his only friends. Memories of loneliness flooded his brain. Standing alone at a street corner, not sure which way to go; hiding in a closet, tears streaming down his cheeks, an older boy pushing him to the ground, nobody helping him up, and one real memory, watching the party go on around him, just happening minutes ago, nobody paying any attention to him, except the praetors, Flynn and Lucy. Filling. His. Mind.

He opened his eyes and tears ran down his cheeks. He took off his glasses and wiped the tears away. He'd walked this path though and though. He shouldn't be sobbing like a little kid.

He scowled, and smoothly grasped the zipper and opened the duffel bag.

Something hard smashed into his face, his glasses whipping off of his face. He fell down and he quickly unsheathed a small Imperial Gold switch blade and held it out in front of him, but he was as blind as a bat without his glasses. He got off of the bed and started fumbling around on the ground, until he felt them. He picked them up and placed them on. The left lens was cracked, and the right lens was missing.

Milo sighed, when he saw a blur run past him, to the to other side of the room, crouching behind another bunk. He blinked, then sheathed his blade, and walked over to where he thought who-ever-it-was was. The person crawled out, a small person, and placed something in his hand. His other lens.

He placed the lens back in, and looked at the intruder though his damaged glasses.

A ragged little girl was standing in front of him, maybe four or so, wearing shorts and an oversized sweater. Her feet were bare and covered in dirt, while the rest of her body had scrapes and bruises, the kind you only get in a battle. She was holding the paw of a rabbit in one hand, and a wooden spoon in the other hand, pointing it at Milo. That was what must of hit him when he opened the bag.

He tried getting closer to the girl, but she shuffled away when he got close. He held out his hand to the girl, but she looked into his eyes. Running, running, running, and confusion, fire, rocks.

Milo blinked, and he held his hand closer. The girl slammed the spoon against his hand.

"You are lucky that I didn't bring a potato masher instead." She threatened, staring right into his eyes with a glare that seemed humanly impossible. The eyes took him to a memory of an older woman with the same glare on her face.

"I am lucky." Milo answered, to make the creepy girl happy. He backed away from her, forcing all the memories flowing out of his head. "Who are you? I'm Milo."

The girl lowered her spoon and stuck in in the lining of her shorts, and held out her hand. "Elaine. But I prefer Eli better."

Milo shook the girl's hand, and smiled. "What are you doing here?"

Eli stared at him. "_El dragón _attacked my home, and I don't know where my parents are, but I came with you, so I would get food." She told him.

"Hopefully _dulces_. _Habas de jalea y chocolate_ are my favorites." She added, a hopeful glint in her eyes, and a small smile on her face. Milo saw a large bowl of jelly beans, and little chocolate kisses.

"I'll get you some candy. Come with me, we can talk to Praetor Linnea and Nathan about join-."

"No! No! No! _¡No hagas eso!_" She interrupted, running and grabbing Milo's legs, so he couldn't walk. "I want you to take me back to Houston, so I can find my parents! I don't want to join the Legion! _Son semidioses! Están vivos!_"

"Oh." Milo saw the sadness in the girl's eyes, and a fabulous idea worthy of Minerva came into his mind.

"Well...let's make a deal. I'll pinky swear." He told Eli.

"_¡Está bien!_" She unclenched his legs and popped up and her spoon fell to the ground. She grabbed it and placed it on the ground.

"So, let's play hide and seek." He started. "You will hide, and I will count to sixty." He grabbed a phone from nearby, and set the timer for three minutes. "When I'm done counting to sixty, I will start the timer for three minutes. If I don't find you in less than three minutes, I'll feed you, and I'll take you back to Houston to help you find at least one of your parents. You understand?"

Eli nodded eagerly, and Milo blocked the memories of giddiness. "If I do find you in less than three minutes, I'll still feed you, and I will help you find one of your parents, but you will live with a foster family in New Rome, or join the Legion, your choice. Is it a deal?" Milo crouched down and held out his pinky.

Eli held out her pinky too, and they locked theirs together. "I promise. _Te lo prometo. _And so does Conjito." A sweet smile graced her face, and her dark eyes glowed warmly, like coals.

Milo smiled, though his head cringed in pain, and walked outside to count.

* * *

Two minutes and fifteen seconds later, not including the counting period, Milo was freaking out, and his nerves got him. He checked the bathroom, all the bunks, behind the bunks, behind the curtains and in the closet. He was freaking out.

Where is she? How can a little girl just disappear?

Milo was just about to give up, with fifteen seconds when he heard a small thud. He walked over to the closet again, and saw a little felt ear peaking from the edge. Except it was on a high shelf, with boxes stacked to the top.

Milo started climbing the boxes, and he got to the top of the shelf, and peeked into the box.

Bad thing about not using his skill, he couldn't tell that a. She was smart, b. That she had a plan, and c. He should have never pinky swore an agreement with her.

The spoon hit him in the face, sending him tumbling to the ground, the boxes falling on him. Eli jumped out of the box and onto Milo with Conjito and her wooden spoon, then to the ground as she watched Milo struggle to get up.

"_Mi mami_ said that you should always should swear on the River Styx when you make a big promise. But I'll go with you, because you're nice." Eli told him

"Fine." Milo said grudgingly. Never thought he would be outsmarted by a four-year-old. But now he knew that the girl was a legacy.

He opened the door for Eli, and she walked out slowly, switching from hyper-mode to timid in a spilt second. She still walked next to him, looking bold to most people. But Milo saw memories of being around strangers and being frightened.

"Where are we going?" Eli asked as they walked down the Principala to New Rome.

"I need to talk to Praetors Linnaea and Nathan, to let them know about you and the duffel bag. Then we'll either go back or you will stay with a family in New Rome. And we'll get you food somewhere along the way." Milo told her.

"Ok." Eli said, looking down.

They got to the border, and Milo was hoping that Terminus was more focused on partying today, less on who crosses the Pomeranian Line.

But once they got five feet from a marble marker, yep, Terminus was there.

"Mr. Boroi, don't you dare take one more step!" Terminus shouted, his cheeks going slightly grey. Milo sighed, and Eli scurried behind him.

"Hello, Terminus."

"Weapons please. You and the little girl. Where's her identification?"

"That's why I need to go in, to talk to the praetors about her joining the Legion or staying in New Rome. And getting her identification." Milo explained, while Eli exchanged cautious glances with Terminus.

"I still need your weapon." Terminus nodded lazily towards

Milo handed his switch blade to a floating tray that was nearby.

"And the little girl. She has some Imperial Gold on her. I need it, please, or you won't be allowed to go inside New Rome. dangerous material, along with those teeth."

Eli walked out from behind Milo, and placed three large scales on the tray and a small pile of teeth. Milo had a split second memory of her picking the spoils up, in the ruins of a house. Her home.

She walked away from Terminus, and he stared at her for a couple of seconds, them muttered something. "Have Linnaea come back later to get them, they are spoils of war. Young age to have them, but still. And have the girl brush her hair, and roll up her sleeves to one inch above her palms. And move that rock..."

Milo grasped Eli's hand and dragged her past the border while Terminus blabbed on, though Milo suspected he wasn't at his full power because it was late, or the celebrations were taking up his power, or he was somewhat drunk. He didn't even take Eli's wooden spoon away.

Milo and Eli skirted the crowd in the forum, until Milo saw Linnaea in the crowd, arm and arm with Nathan, Argentum and Aurum at their sides, talking to the citizens of New Rome. Milo ran into a surprisingly clean alley, and the ran behind a bunch of trash cans.

Milo stopped and kneeled down, so he and Eli were about the same height.

"Wait right here, I'll be right back." Eli nodded, and Milo walked away towards Linnaea and Nathan, once they were alone.

Both dogs growled at the same time. Linnaea was the first to notice him, and she nudged Nathan. "Hi, Milo." She smiled at him, but then frowned, taking in the bruises on his face and his cracked glasses.

"Um, what happened to you?" Nathan asked uncertainly.

Milo tried not to scowl. "That's what I want to tell you. I need to show you something." His head started to spin, from blocking the memories out and

"That sounds odd. Who beat you up this time?"

"No one, well, someone did, but it was out of protection. Just trust me."

Nathan glanced at Linnaea uncertainly, but Linnaea nodded toward Milo. "Ok."

Milo lead Linnaea and Nathan into the alley, with Argentum and Aurum at their heels, near the trash cans, and peeked behind the trash cans. Eli was not there.

Milo cursed in Latin, and searched the ground around the bins, some of the other hiding spots.

"She was just here..." Milo said, exasperated.

"Who?" Nathan and Linnaea said at once.

At that point, one of the trash bins opened, the one nearest to Linnaea opened, and there was Eli, sitting on top of the bags, holding her spoon one hand, eating a huge chunk of chocolate in the other, with Conjito on her lap.

"Woah, who's the random little girl?" Nathan asked. Argentum and Aurum growled at her. Then, their ears perked up, and they sprinted over to her and tried to lick her face. Eli giggled and wrapped her arms around Aurum.

"Well, they like the random little girl more than me." Nathan mumbled as he dusted off his toga. Apparently, the dogs had knocked him over to get to her.

"It's Eli" She said, clearly annoyed, trying to get the dogs to stop jumping. She took a huge bite out of her piece of chocolate. "_Yo no soy pequeño, tampoco. Soy cuatro!_" She held up four fingers.

Linnaea told the dogs a order in Latin, and the dogs ran back to Linnaea's side. "So...the girl hit you with the spoon, I suppose." Linnaea asked Milo.

"Yeah. When we killed the dragon, it partially destroyed a house. She apparently lived there, so she hid in my duffel bag and attacked me with a wooden spoon."

Linnaea and Nathan stared at Milo for a few seconds, until Linnaea snapped out of her daze.

"Eli, did you do all of that?" Linnaea asked, leading closer to Eli.

Eli nodded, then she collapsed into Linnaea's arms and started crying.

"_Extraño a mamá y papá! _I want to go home!" She wailed, the piece of chocolate falling on the ground. Milo knew how she felt.

Linnaea awkwardly held Eli, and Milo knew that Eli felt more comfortable with Linnaea than she did with him and Nathan.

"She must be tired." Linnaea told them, then turned towards Milo. "She's probably not a mortal, because she got though the border."

"I think she's a legacy, personally." Nathan said. "She says she had two parents, and demigods usually have one parent."

Milo didn't say that she knew about the gods. She knew something.

"Nathan, go back into the forum and socialize. Milo and I will take Eli to a foster home. I know just the one." Linnaea ordered. Nathan nodded, then walked out of the alley and back into the forum, with the dogs at his heels.

Linnaea started to stand up, while holding Eli, but she wriggled out of her arms.

"I don't wanna look like a weenie. _Voy a caminar_." Eli stood up, and held Milo's hand. Maybe she liked him after all.

Linnaea walked down the alley, where another street was, and they walked down the street until they got to an intersection, where Linnet turned right, and the road went upwards. Milo glanced at Eli from time to time, but she was holding up strong. Only godly blood can do that.

They reached a two story house, covered in ivy, with a whitewashed porch and a swing, painted a pale blue. Linnaea knocked on the door sharply.

A woman opened the door. Long brown hair, loose around her shoulders, dressed in sweatpants and a baggy T-Shirt, and a leather necklace around her neck, a knife around her waist. At that point, Milo knew who that person was.

"Hello, Praetor Linnaea." Piper Grace greeted. "Come inside. You too, Milo."

The three of them walked inside, into a small living room, with a small couch and couple of chairs scattered around a coffee table. Piper sat down on one of the chairs, while Milo and Linnaea sat across from her, with Eli in the middle, playing with Conjito.

"Can you tell me the name of the lovely young lady here?" Piper asked, gesturing to Eli. Milo had only met Piper once, and that was when he first joined the Legion, but she was one of the few Greeks who lived in New Rome full-time. Greeks came to train with the Legion for the summer, and Romans went to Camp Half-Blood for one-on-one combat training, but few actually lived in each others camps.

"Elaine. Call me Eli." She rubbed her eyes, and leaned against Milo's leg.

"Ok, Eli. I expect you want us to take care of her?" Piper assumed.

"At least for the night. Until we make final arrangements for her to join the Legion, or for her to live in New Rome." Linnea told her. "But she's... disagreeable."

Piper nodded. "I understand."

Then, Jason walked in, wearing pajamas.

"Hey, Milo, and Linnaea. Foster mission?" He sat down next to Piper, and held her hand.

"Yes." Piper answered. "We could take care of her." Jason nodded, and Milo knew that he noticed the bruises on Milo's face.

"She's a stubborn one, a born warrior?" Jason stared at Eli, who gave a sleepy wave.

"Looks like it." Milo answered.

"What about when the baby is born?" Linnaea asked. Milo noticed that Piper's stomach was slightly bulged. Piper smiled, and placed her hands on her stomach.

"We'll be fine, It's only been five months. She can sleep in the guest room, until we get a room set up for her."

"It's no problem, really."

"Ok, then. I will arrange final preperations for her to stay here, until further notice." Linnaea stood up and shook Piper and Jason's hands, and Milo did the following. Jason picked up Eli and walked up the stairs and out of sight.

Milo turned around, and saw Eli give him a sleepy wave, and he let one memory in, her getting tucked in bed at the end of a tiring day, just to let him fall back to himself.

* * *

**Please fav, follow and review, if you do, Eli won't hit you with a wooden spoon. And if you want, please tell me if you have seen, or want to see The Hobbit. :)**

**-SAVE THE NARGLES**


	5. Chapter 5

**Hi, I've been working on this chapter for a really long time now. But I have a lame excuse for not being on, besides Christmas. Well, actually a couple lame excuses. One, John Green novels. Two, School. And three, Tumblr. Great right? I need to put my Tumblr URL on my profile. Note to self. Please enjoy the chapter!**

**-SAVE THE NARGLES**

* * *

When Reyna fell back into consciousness, she did one thing. She threw up.

Everything was blurry, the sunlight was blinding. How long was she there, hours, _days_?

She shook the plaster out of her hair, and tried to sit up, but a piece of the wall trapped her legs. Reyna pushed the plaster off of her legs, and shakily got to her feet, and her eyes finally focused.

On the ruins of her house.

Everything came flooding back to her, overwhelming her. The dragon, telling Eli to go and get the backpack, the fatal arrow striking it in a chink of its armor.

She leaned against what was once a wall, clutching her stomach, her head hurting and her ankle in pain. Leo. Eli.

They were gone. Eli must have escaped, but what if she was at the Legion, being trained to hold a sword properly, not living a somewhat normal life, not being the sweet little girl she was. She could be dead, for all she knew. Her little girl, dead. All she knew, she was gone.

And Leo. Who once was just a Greek who blew up the Forum, now the love of her life, her husband, and the father of her daughter. The one person who knew how alone she felt all of those years. Gone.

Such a bitter word, gone. She always knew that, she faced it many times. But now it had a whole new side, it had the same attributes, but it was deeper, filled with much more longing. She was connected to Eli by blood and flesh, and to Leo as lover to lover, ring to ring. And now she could cry.

But not now. Reyna staggered away from the house and by the yard. Yellow police tape surrounded the house, but the cops were guarding the wreckage didn't see her. She knelt on the ground, when she was out of sight. The numbness was fading, and her head hurt, and so did her ankle. Reyna looked down. It was bruised and swollen, and she knew it was broken.

She looked down at what she was wearing. Her old SPQR shirt, grey sweatpants, a lousy sweatshirt, and slip-on shoes, and her wedding band. Acceptable.

Reyna took all the stuff out of her pockets. A lint ball, a couple of dimes, her missing debit card, a crumpled piece of paper and a couple of squares of ambrosia.

The debit card would have at least a couple hundred bucks on it, the lint and dimes are useless, so she unfolded the piece of paper. In Leo's messy handwriting, it said

_2960 5th Ave, Seattle, WA 98101_

Below that it said, _For Emergencies!_

Reyna stared at the piece of paper. It was Hylla's address. This was what she needed. This was solid ground.

A little voice in her head was murmuring that she should go and find Leo and Eli. But she needed a plan. And all she needed for her plan was an address and some money.

Since the dragon attacked, she let herself breath. Quickly, her headache came sharply again, so she placed half a square of ambrosia in her mouth, and slowly, she drifted off to sleep...

* * *

_She held her head high, though she was alone. Her dogs weren't with her even. She wanted the peace after the war to just be peaceful, not hectic with parties. Plus, the parties fended away the nightmares, something she would never do. At least in waking hours._

_She strided though the streets alone, towards the Garden of Bacchus. Restless wind whipped though her hair, and her toga hem was covered in dust. She climbed up the hill, and The garden was ghostly in the darkness, but the silence was comforting to her._

_Reyna sat down on a bench, and watched the view spread out in front of her, and for once, she let herself take a breath, because everything was safe. Rome will survive, no, thrive, with the Greeks at their side._

_But she was still alone._

_She brushed her toga off, and stared off into the distance, over the land, past the forum, where the feast was._

_"Shoot, shoot, shoot!" She heard though the trees near her left. And Leo Valdez ran out from the trees, tripped and fell right in front of Reyna._

_"MY FACE!" He yelled, holding onto his face, which had a measly scratch on it. He was a wimp to be one of the seven._

_"Hello, Leo Valdez." Reyna greeted coldly, and she stood up and started to walk away._

_"Wait!" She felt him grab his shoulder. "Why aren't you at the feast?"_

_Reyna glared at him. "Why aren't you at the feast?" Truthfully, she didn't want to be around all the happy couples, and ever afters. Those were the things she would never get._

_"I was following you. I wanted to invite you on the Argo II for refreshments, beautiful." He winked. Reyna gagged inside her head._

_Reyna wanted to be alone, but she knew he won't stop bothering her unless she said yes, and she didn't want to go on the Argo II._

_"I have some paperwork to do, but thank you for the offer." Reyna nodded politely to him and turned away and started down the hill_

_"You're lying. Why would anyone do paperwork on the night of a feast? Come with me." Leo jutted in front of her, and held out his hand._

_Well, she wasn't planning on doing paperwork. But he was a Greek. A Greek who destroyed part of the forum._

_But why not?_

_"Ok." He grinned, then grabbed her wrist and started sprinting down the hill, towards the Argo II, dragging Reyna with him._

_They got to the Senate House, where the Argo II was parked in midair, and Leo hopped up of the bottom rung of the ladder. He quickly opened a pocket in his tool belt, and fished out a remote._

_"You coming? We're going the fun way!" Reyna knew that they probably weren't going to climb up the ladder, but she grabbed on to the rung confidently next to Leo._

_"Leo is going to take you for a ride." Then he pressed a button on the remote, and the ladder shot up. Reyna clung to the ladder, and it a second, it stopped._

_Leo grabbed the edge of the railing and hoisted himself up, and she quickly followed him._

_"Tour or a dinner cooked by moi?" He asked, once they were both safely on deck._

_"Dinner, please." Reyna answered, feeling her stomach churn with anger._

_"Sure." He ran across the deck and down the stairs, till they got to an area of couches and a table._

_Reyna sat down in one of the chairs and watched Leo heat up a plate of pasta in the microwave. All she was wondering was why._

_"Here you go. Dinner." He placed a plate of pesto pasta in front of her, then sat down in front of her with a plate of pasta for himself._

_"Why did you invite me here?" Reyna asked him, while he was stuffing his face with pasta._

_"Well, you were not at the feast, so that's just friendly concern, but you were alone, and I was alone, so I thought, we can be alone together! Plus some of the couples are just so sappy, it's gross."_

_"That is very true, Leo Valdez." Reyna looked up at him, and he was grinning, as if expecting her to grin with him._

_Then they heard a voice call Leo's name up on deck. His eyes widened._

_"Come on, grab your plate." He grabbed her plate anyway, and ran over to a blank area of the wall, and quickly pressed certain areas of the wall, then the panel slid away. He turned around to look at Reyna._

_"Are you coming or what?" Reyna looked back to where the table was, and the sound of footsteps coming towards them, then she ran after Leo into the panel._

* * *

Bellona walked down the sidewalk, invisible to the mortal eye, but as she walked past the police officers, they stiffened, knowing her presence was near, even if they didn't know who or what it was. Everyone gets nervous at the sight of war.

She stepped aside, leaving the officers in peace, and walked though the door, and into the house. She slowly closed her eyes and roamed though the rubbish, feeling the sense of war there. She held out her hand and slowly, what she wanted came to her.

Her daughters knife was in her hand, glowing gold, was in front of her. Bellona smiled, and continued walking. Her daughter would need her knife.

"Reyna will need more than that, Bellona." A voice said behind her.

Bellona grimaced. "She needs her knife to defend herself."

"Yes, but she needs the memories to give herself hope." Venus appeared in front of Bellona. "The hope that Rome would last forever helped her when she fought before. But this isn't about Rome."

Bellona turned around and stared at the wreckage. "It's about her surviving."

"Not just that. It's about her finding Leo and Eli." Venus placed her hand on her shoulder.

She shrugged it off. "Both of them are strong people. The Greek and my granddaughter."

"I know, but sometimes love can defend you in ways a knife can't. She needs to remember how much she loved Leo and Eli if she wants to find them again." Venus waved a piece of paper in front of Bellona's face. _Di immortales_, she can be annoying sometimes.

Bellona glared at her. "You don't know my daughter."

"Yet I knew this would happen. I talked with her in Charleston, over tea and cookies eleven years ago, and I knew that she would fall for someone unlikely. I told her that, and it would prolong her connection to fate. Fate is never done with the living because it is closely tied to love. Not just love for a spouse, but the other kind of love I stay out of, love for a family."

"What do you mean?"

"I mean, look at the gods, both Greek and Roman. We are all related to each other, though blood, so we are a family. Our 'family'," Venus made quotation marks with her fingers. "Is messy, I stay out of it. It doesn't need my help. It's a disaster, that's been in process for millennia, it can never be perfect. Yet it forms out of nothing, love in a family. Look at Percy and Annabeth. If they never got together, they still would love each other as best friends and as partners in crime."

She and Bellona locked eyes, and Venus pressed something in her hand.

"It's the kind of love that holds the Valdez family together." Venus answered, and she faded into a silver mist.

Bellona fingered the pieces of paper in her hand, and she quickly unfolded them. One was a picture of her two daughters, Reyna and Hylla, on Circe's island. The second picture was of Leo and Eli sleeping on the couch. Bellona scowled, but she didn't dare crumple them.

"You did this all for two measly pictures, Venus." Bellona stalked out of the ruins with the knife and the pictures until she came upon her daughter.

She knelt, and touched her face, and Reyna breathed out. Bellona left the dagger and the pictures next to her, and silently gave Reyna her blessing.

"Wishing you luck in your fight." With that, Bellona disappeared.

* * *

Jason always loved little kids, so taking care of Eli was a dream come true for him. He barely knew this girl, yet he felt this connection to her, being so young to come here, like he was when he joined the Legion. She is only a bit older than he was when he came here.

But Eli had this...stiffness. She clinged to her spoon, along with Conjito. Piper explained the situation to Jason that night, after Linnaea left. She was tough, more vicious than a lot of the demigods. She acted older than her age, but still seemed like she still had a part of her that was free.

Jason had called in sick for both him and Piper that morning. Jason taught sword fighting to some of the New Rome kids, who were planning on joining the Legion later in life, but were not old enough for the recommendation age range. Piper was an ambassador for the two camps.

He got up and went downstairs. He whipped up some eggs, bacon and pancakes for the three of them, then went upstairs to wake up Eli. He would wake up Piper too, but he didn't want a face full of dagger.

Jason glanced at the picture on top of the microwave. It was a crew picture of all the demigods of the prophecy, plus Nico, Coach Hedge and Reyna.

He and Piper lived together in New Rome, with good jobs, and Piper was five months pregnant with their first child.

Hazel and Frank also lived in New Rome, both just getting out of college, Frank in Military science and Hazel in Painting. Both also learned Greek.

Percy and Annabeth lived in New York with their two children. Annabeth worked for an architect firm, while Percy was a teacher at Goode, where he went to high school.

Gleeson Hedge was the same violent goat. He was in a relationship with Mellie, still worked for Piper's dad, just older.

Nico was still Nico, still traveling, even though Hazel and Percy both begged him to get a job, an apartment, do something. Still, Jason thought that he was less pale than he was before. So, Nico was slightly improved. Still creepy, but less time in the Underworld.

Reyna disappeared, and there was a short search done when she first left, but Jason thought that Reyna was tired of being in the Legion, so she left without a trace. He didn't know where, but even though her disappearance shocked everybody, he knew that wherever she was, she could take care of herself.

Leo, last time Jason talked to him, had a good life in Houston. But Leo was the one person who he was worried the most about.

Jason knew something was up since the quest was over. He sometimes was happy, sometimes he had something on his mind. It went on and off for years. He lived at Camp Half-Blood, and worked on Festus and on the sphere, creating many great inventions and fixing Festus, so he had a complete body again, and a new control disc.

When he was eighteen, he retreated away from everyone, and left Camp Half-Blood, and six months later, he got an I-M saying that he was working at a machine shop in Houston and bought a house, and was living by himself. _It's a new chapter,_ he had said. _I'm home again!_

But it got worse when he and Piper got married, though Leo was his best man. Jason knew Leo was lonely, though Leo told him that he was financially well and went out once and a while. When he was visiting Camp Half-Blood, he spent most of his time with Festus, and worked on the sphere.

When he was in New Rome, he stayed inside, because both he and Jason knew that Rome hadn't fully forgiven Leo for the destruction of the forum, so Leo was cooped up inside, feeling worse about himself than ever before.

Overtime, Leo generally vanished, not talking or seeing anyone for months at a time. Visits turned to I-Ms, which turned to phone calls, which turned to the occasional short paragraph on a piece of paper sent in a small envelope with a Hermes Express sticker on it.

The last time Jason heard anything from him was when he sent a letter, telling him that Piper was pregnant. He sent a letter back, and they treasured it, Jason remembered exactly what it said.

_Hey, congrats, Sparky. Bet you and Beauty Queen will be great parents. Hope you're doing well in New Rome. I'm awesome as always. Tell the others I say hello. Make sure Nico isn't a vampire yet. Congrats once more._

_Repair Boy_

Leo didn't want to live in the world of the gods anymore. That was clear. Everything that happened lead to this.

Jason felt that he could of been a better friend himself, that he might of stayed if he was. He knew that everyone felt that way, at least, those who were close to him. It stung. It felt like it was his fault. Their fault.

Jason broke his gaze from the picture, and placed the food on the table, and he heard quiet footsteps fro above him, where Eli's room was. Jason left the food and jogged up the stairs, until he got to the closed door. He knocked slightly. No answer.

"Eli..." He said quietly, then he opened the door.

The little girl ran right under him and sprinted down the stairs. Jason stood there for a second, taking in what just happened then followed Eli.

He burst into the living room, and he heard a clicking sound. He followed the clicking sound until he saw her, trying to open the locked door. She got the lock on the knob, but she couldn't reach the top lock. Jason instantly crouched down, and approached Eli slowly. She was still trying to unlock the door.

"Hey..." Jason said quietly. Eli turned around. She held out her spoon out in front of her and shuffled slowly towards her.

"What's wrong?" Jason asked. Eli stared at him clearly confused, but then she slid towards him. She got close, then she leaned next to his ear, as if to tell him a secret.

"You...can't catch me!" Then she whacked him on the head with the spoon and darted away.

Jason sprinted after her into the living room, where she was jumping on the couch, yelling, "YOU CAN'T CATCH ME!"

He went to go and grab her off the couch, but she jumped off and ran into the kitchen and he ran into the couch. Disagreeable is an understatement.

In the end, he chased her around the house for twenty minutes, until he catched her.

"Aw..." Eli sighed when he grabbed her and carried her to the kitchen and set her on the stool.

Jason held her. "Do you want some breakfast? I made pancakes."

"Yay! Pancakes!" Jason set down a plate of pancakes for her. She quickly started eating them.

"So, how are the pancakes?"

"_Bueno._" Eli dug the fork into the pancakes, and Jason poured her a glass of milk.

"Thank you for the food, _S__eñor_." She said mildly, as she finished her pancakes.

"No problem, and call me Jason." He told her.

She nodded. "_Mamá _says that you should always call an adult properly. Can I call your wife by her name too?"

"Yes, she wouldn't mind. You speak Spanish?" He asked.

Eli nodded. "Mommy and Daddy both speak _español_. They taught me." Then she got quiet. She looked down, and Jason saw a tear slip from her eyes and onto her plate.

"You miss your parents, don't you?" Jason handed her a napkin, and she dabbed her eyes with it.

"_Sí_, but they're alive. They have to be." Eli looked up at Jason. "They're brave." At that moment she started bawling her eyes out. Jason picked her up and she sobbed silently into his shirt. He gently sat down on the couch and rubbed her back, knowing how she felt, when he came to Camp Jupiter, without anyone else.

Piper walked in and kissed his cheek, then sat down next to him, until Eli stopped crying.

"I'll take Eli to get some clothes for her today. Linnaea is coming at three so we can sign the paper work. Percy and Annabeth are staying in New Rome next week, they are bringing their kids, Luke and Zoe." Piper whispered, then she touched Eli's shoulder.

"Eli? We need to get some clothes for you, if you are staying here. Do you want to go and buy some clothes in New Rome?"

Eli looked up, then nodded.

"Great! Do you want me to brush your hair and put your ribbon back in?"

Eli got off of Jason's lap and touched her hair. It was a deep brown, almost black, slightly wavy, but long and thick, pulled back in a purple ribbon, and it was really, really tangled.

"Mommy put my hair in the ribbon. She says that _morado_ is a royal color.'" She sniffled, but got up and followed Piper to the bathroom.

* * *

**Please review, follow, favorite please! Bye!**


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